Money matters are on the minds of candidates seeking a seat on the Phillipsburg School Board.

Incumbent Tammy Lynn, Peter J. Marino and Jeff Faubert are each seeking one of three vacant seats in the uncontested election, scheduled for tomorrow. And they all say they are concerned about how to get the most out of the district's limited financial resources, which will also come to the attention of voters tomorrow when the proposed 1993-1994 budget appears on the ballot.

Lynn, 32, who was appointed to the board in February after member Brenda Dalrymple resigned, voted against this year's budget two weeks ago. Her reason: Having been on the board only two months, she did not have enough information about state-mandated programs in the budget to know for sure whether a tax increase could be justified.

But Lynn, who is a licensed property and casualty insurance saleswoman in Phillipsburg, said she voted "no" rather than "abstention" because to abstain would have meant letting the rest of the board make a decision for her, and "that's just not the type of person I am."

Marino, 47, who handles budgets for the U.S. Postal Service in Phillipsburg, said he would have voted against the budget because "it's not detailed enough to the general public."

Now vice chairman of Phillipsburg's Board of Zoning Adjustment, Marino said programs like the Skylands project, which would enable the Phillipsburg District to purchase items in bulk with other districts, would save the district money.

Faubert, 23, a receiving supervisor at Peter P. Dennis Inc., a wholesale paper and tobacco distribution company in Phillipsburg, also sees long-term planning and "common sense" approaches like the Skylands as the key to saving money.

Referring to Skylands, he said "Everyone uses pencils and papers."

Faubert said he is running for the school board because it is the "logical next step" from community work he has done with the Phillipsburg Jaycees.

Recently elected Community Development vice president for the Jaycees, Faubert said that, through the group, he has done many community projects with children, including an annual Halloween Parade and an annual program in which underprivileged children are given money and taken Christmas shopping.

The 1987 graduate of Phillipsburg High School said he was been exposed to the other side of the teacher's desk while a student at Moravian College, when he served as a student teacher in the Wilson Area School District.

"I've seen the district from both sides now," he said.

Marino, whose two daughters graduated from Phillipsburg High School, said he thinks public office would be a good way to continue community service he started in the Elks.

The school board is the only public office open to him, he said. "As a federal employee I can't run for partisan office," he said. "The school board is not partisan."

He added that he feels his job working with the post office's budgets will make him "very conscious about the school district's budget."

Lynn, who has two daughters in Phillipsburg elementary schools, recalled that about three years ago she had been active in attending board meetings as a taxpayer. Later, she could not attend as many because of a time conflict with meetings held by the Phillipsburg Jaycees, of which she is a member.

In the period between the time she attended meetings as a taxpayer and the time she attended as a board member, she said she noticed a change in the board rapport with the public.

"When I first started going to board meetings (as a citizen) it just seemed like there wasn't that much explanation to the public," she said. "They have changed their communication skills, which I find to be a positive."

The $26.14 million budget that the board introduced in March was pared down by $314,000 after a hearing in early April.